


The March

by ottermo



Series: As Prompted [84]
Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: Gen, Humans Character Appreciation Month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 05:22:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20204413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ottermo/pseuds/ottermo
Summary: The night Mia is taken from the world, Ed takes to the street.





	The March

**Author's Note:**

> tiny thing I wrote for Humans Character Appreciation Month (June), just sticking it here for posterity :)

In a weird way it’s freeing, knowing that he’ll never have another regret like this. That this is the one he’ll come back to on his death bed, however far in the future that might be. This is the thing that will haunt him forever: betraying Mia. Knowing her, and selling out regardless.

When her face is plastered all over the news the night the government shows its hand, at first Ed doesn’t believe it, grasps weakly at thoughts of duplicates, lookalikes, mistaken identities. But in the end, he can’t escape it. It’s her. And she’s gone.

He joins the march, driving hours into the night and walking behind them as they gather in front of the Dryden building. People are holding candles. He doesn’t have one, so he forces his hands down in the pockets of his jacket, hiding the external emptiness. Rain lashes down, and it fits somehow, the mood of it all, but it also puts him in mind of seaspray. That day they’d spent at the water’s edge, when she’d trusted him with everything. He wishes he didn’t remember it so well. Knows he must.

Somebody pushes through the crowd, starting from behind him. Ed turns to look, sees blonde hair and utter heartbreak. For a second he’s so taken aback by the mirror of personal loss that he doesn’t even notice the violet-coloured eyes, shining more than they ought to in the moonlight. A synth, then. If he’s not mistaken, a synth who knew Mia better than he did.

She catches him looking at her, and her face resets to steel, as if a wall has gone up deliberately. Ed averts his eyes, and the next time he looks up, she’s gone. Swallowed by the crowd.

He understands, later. The world knows her name before the week is out. She’s leading the synths now, protecting them, teaching them. They say her powers are godlike, to be feared, that she’s from some higher plane of being. Ed doesn’t know about that. But he trusts her. She knew Mia.

When, six or so months later, she appears on his TV screen with a familiar face at her side, Ed feels a weight lift. Purple eyes, now, to match her sister. Eyes he’ll never meet in person, probably. But he’s glad to see them shining, all the same.


End file.
